People with a severe mental illness (SMI) are more likely to have physical health conditions such as diabetes, hypocholesteraemia and cardiovascular disease which can lead to premature mortality compared with the general population (Hayes 2015, Olfson 2015).

Such health conditions can be caused by obesity and overweight, in part due to the side effects of antipsychotic medication, which for many people are a necessity for managing their severe mental illness, as well as modifiable lifestyle choices such as poor diet and lack of exercise.

To explore whether targeting one of these factors (poor diet) could improve weight management, Teasdale and colleagues carried out a systematic review of nutrition interventions for people with severe mental illness. The review is published today in the British Journal of Psychiatry.